The Sins of the Father

   It is absolutely vital to take what the Bible has to tell us in proper context, and so be able to live our lives joyfully. This was brought home to me very recently, at a wedding of all places, after I had struck up a conversation with a rather tearful young lady.

   “Weddings can be very emotional, can’t they? Is there anything a total stranger can do to dry those tears?”

   “I vowed I’d never get married, but there’s just so much love inside me, it’s hard, so very hard. I love to dance, have fun and be with a crowd, especially those who are of the household of faith”.

   “Well, that certainly needed to come out, didn’t it?”

   “Yes, I’m sorry: I shouldn’t have blurted that out to you just like that. I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me”.

   “I think you might have been bottling it up inside you for too long: it had to be brought out. I also think you’ll find you’ll be very glad it did because if a problem shared is a problem solved, I’m sure the same can be said of sorrow”.

   After a short pause I asked the young lady if she was going to the reception. She said she had accepted but didn’t feel like going now.

   “Well,” I responded, “there’ll be an elaborate table setting waiting for you and people who’d clearly like you to be there. Look,” I went on, “It’s only twenty past four now and the reception’s not ‘til six, so why don’t we find ourselves a cup of coffee, talk some more and then see how you feel”.

   Finding a coffee shop reminded me of Somerset Maugham’s Albert Edward Foreman and his long search for a tobacco shop. I wondered if our time together would likewise be a life changing experience. And so it proved to be.

   Once settled into our booth, Kay, for that was the young lady’s name, proceeded to tell me that her father had done something terribly wrong. I did not ask her for details, but the obvious pain on Kay’s face told its own story. By way of escape she had joined a Bible study group. It was there she had been told the misdeeds of a father would be visited upon succeeding generations.

   Kay proceeded to recount in vivid detail how Josiah, King of Judah, commanded Hilkiah the priest and others to inquire of the Lord for him and others about a book of the law given by Moses. Hilkiah had found the book in the house of the Lord.

   After King Josiah had heard the words of the law he was very much disturbed for, he said, the Lord is very angry because our fathers have not kept God’s word. Accordingly, Hilkiah and his party went to see Huldah the prophetess who lived in a school in Jerusalem.

   She answered them by saying the Lord God of Israel had said to tell the king God will destroy this city and its people; all the curses that are written in the book will come true. This was because the people had forsaken the Lord and worshipped other gods, provoking the Lord to anger and causing Him to pour out His wrath upon the city, a wrath that would not be quenched.

   But as for the king, because he had a heart for the Lord, before whom he had humbled himself, God would not bring about the destruction of the city and its people until after the king had died in peace.

   It was obvious these events had had a profound effect on Kay. She reasoned the misdeeds of her father, without the saving grace of humility before God, would be visited upon his children or his grandchildren, hence she told herself she would never marry.

   I told Kay the Bible tells us the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; additionally, that what the Bible has to tell us must be read in the context of the whole Word of God.

   Bringing her down to earth, I pointed out now was as good a time as any to make our way to the reception, there to continue our rather earnest conversation in more convivial surroundings.

   Once at the reception, the already bright atmosphere was enlivened by the introduction of the bridal party, the singing of grace, the superb dinner, and the amusing slide show featuring the happy couple that was shown throughout. Next came the speeches, the cutting of the cake, the garter and bouquet toss, the father and daughter and mother and son dance, the bridal couple’s first dance, and the money dance. But what was constantly and amusingly diverting was the roving spotlight the DJ would use to draw attention to certain people while gleefully catching others unawares. Here was the dancing, the fun and the “in” crowd Kay had said she liked so much. I set out to try to match the change in Kay’s rather somber mood I thought was needed.

   I began by asking her if her Bible study group leader had ventured into the New Testament, since the story she had told was from the Old Testament. An emphatic “No” was Kay’s immediate response. The leader wanted to make absolutely sure at the outset that his charges were very well aware of the consequences of doing wrong, especially the breaking of the Ten Commandments.

   I told her that then I had only good news to give her, starting from this very moment.

   Elsewhere in the Old Testament, I continued, it is recorded that the word of the Lord came to the prophet Ezekiel saying, if a father did wrong, he would perish. But if his son did what was lawful and right, he would live. The son would not suffer because of the father and vice versa.

   But what was so wonderful was that, if a wicked person would turn over a new leaf, keep all God’s commandments, and do that which is lawful and right, they would surely live, they would not die. Everything they had done wrong would be forgotten: what mattered was all the good they did thereafter. The Lord Himself had said, “Have I any pleasure at all that wicked people should die? No: I just want them to mend their ways and live”.

   I emphasized the Lord’s actual words to Kay, not just to edify her, but to show her that there was still hope for her father if we could just help him to see the error of his ways. After all, God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and whoever calls upon His name will be saved.

   Imagine, I told Kay, warming to my theme, if we were to plant seeds of goodness in your father’s heart, might we not bring about a wonderful transformation in a weak, fallen man and then be able to echo the words spoken to Daniel, “Have no fear; God loves you deeply. Be at peace, have courage and be strong?”

   Kay smiled wanly and said she thought her father was beyond redemption because, to her certain knowledge, though hopefully not her mother’s, he had broken one of the Ten Commandments in the worst possible way.

   I asked Kay as gently but as purposefully as I could if, not having looked at the New Testament in her Bible study, she was nevertheless aware of the story of Jesus and the woman ‘taken in adultery, in the very act.’ She said she wasn’t.

   I told her in the simplest terms that some religious leaders, wishing to tempt Jesus, had brought such a woman to Him and asked if, according to the Law of Moses, it wasn’t right to stone her to death. Jesus said to them, “Those of you who have never sinned, throw the first stone”. One by one all the people went away, convicted by their own conscience, until Jesus was left alone with the woman. He then asked her, “Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord”, she replied. Thereupon Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more”.

   And this, I reminded Kay, was someone who hadn’t just sinned, but had actually broken one of the Ten Commandments.

   It had taken no effort on my part to build excitement into the telling of the story, and it was wonderful to see the look, almost of wonder, that began to light up Kay’s lovely face.

   By this time, everyone had been encouraged to take the floor and I knew now was the hour to introduce Kay to the world of which she had said she so much wanted to be a part.

   Signally discreetly to the DJ, he swung the roving spotlight directly onto her, announced that the next dance had been specifically requested for her, so would she please lead her party onto the floor. This she did in true regal style, followed by a gloriously free spirited interpretation of the one composition I thought combined dance, fun and those of the household of faith; it was, of course, the jazz classic, ‘When the saints go marching in’.

For further reading: 2 Chronicles 34:14-28; Proverbs 1:7; Exodus 20:1-17; Ezekiel 18:14-21; Acts 2: 21; Joel 2:13 & 32; Nahum 1:3; Hosea 10:12; Daniel 10:19; John 8:1-11